Our winters in WNY are long and cold… at least they usually are! But no matter what the temperature is on the outside, we always have to make sure we are warm and nourished on the inside as well. Organic Youth provides ways for youth and their adult leaders to rekindle joy, warm up their souls, and nourish their hearts with intentional community.

Here are some ways to take advantage of what Organic Youth has to offer:

Whether you are a Youth Leader, or a young person there is something to lift you up this Fall. Organic Youth provides way for our youth and their leaders to be recharged, plug into community, and learn a little more about God.

Organic Youth is ready to change the world and learn more about love in 2018! We have programs for any age between 1st and 12th grade. OY and Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center are teaming up to help give our young people some of the best youth programming in WNY.

Get ready for games, games and more games! We will have games going in the indoor gym, arcade games in the arcade, and board games everywhere. Right before we eat pizza and play, there will be a Worship led by Nick Stroczkowski and the OY Leadership Team. Oh, and by the way… there is a movie room playing movies all night, and if you need to rest there will be quiet areas to sleep.

The $45 registration fee includes: Unlimited Lasertron and CyberSport, unlimited drinks, arcade tokens, and two food items. We will also have a large group devotion time to look at ourselves and how God shows up in our lives.

We would like to welcome our new Director of Youth Ministries: NickStroczkowski!

Nick has been working professionally in Youth Ministry for over 4 years. First, as the Youth Director at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Downtown Buffalo, and now as the Sailing Director at Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center and Director of Youth Ministries at Organic Youth. He has a passion for being an advocate for young people, playing music, and growing closer to God.

Nick also runs his own film production company called Brothers & Sisters Film Production Co. Look for some devotional videos starring the Organic Youth Leadership Team soon!

In celebration of the past 11 years as director, and in anticipation of the ministry and life-changing times to come, I’ve uploaded EVERY picture we have of the ministry of our Niagara Frontier Conference youth ministry program, Organic Youth! That’s 11 years worth, dozens of programs worth, and a total of 5,116 pictures!!!

Take some time to look back. You may see your children, or yourself, participating in one (or many) of our varied programs over the years. You’ll also see how God has been at work trough you and others to grow, live, reach out and serve in God’s love.

So enjoy the throwback. And please join with me in prayer for the future of this dynamic youth ministry program. I’m excited to see the images and hear the stories in the future of ways God will continue to be up to big things among the youth of Western New York!

-Rick Mollenkopf-GrillDirector of Youth Ministry, 2006-2017

Note about pictures: Rather than placing pictures directly on our page, we’ve uploaded pictures by year and program to their own Google Photos albums. Check out the pics, feel free to download what you like, and if you have a Google ID (you do if you have a Gmail account), you can add your pictures to the collection! Click the links below to arrive at the album for the program listed…

If you feel inspired to support this vital ministry in the lives of youth, please click here and see how you can Support Organic Youth!

2016-2017

]]>22142017 Volleyball Marathon Recaphttp://organic-youth.org/2017/03/21/2017-volleyball-marathon-recap/
Tue, 21 Mar 2017 19:51:26 +0000http://organic-youth.org/?p=2182It was a smaller year, but the 2017 edition of the Organic Youth Volleyball Marathon was great in its own right!

Here’s a quick recap of the night:

85 youth, adult leaders and support staff gathered together to make a difference

At the end of the night, medals were awarded for gold-silver-bronze, last place, best sportsmanship, best team mascot, and the team that raised the most money for Lutheran World Relief. And prizes were awarded for the first, second and third most money raised by an individual.

Bobby “DJ Shaggs” who, while not able to make it, loaned all of his equipment to help ensure the all-night tunes happened

Volunteers who jumped in to help with backpack assembly, food service, volleyball scorekeeping and more

The adult leaders who sacrificed their time and sleep to bring youth

The youth for taking a chance and coming out to the event

Rather than placing pictures directly on our page, we’ve started a Google Photos album for this event. Check out the pics, feel free to download what you like, and if you have a Google ID (you do if you have a Gmail account), you can add your Volleyball Marathon pictures to the collection! Click the button to go to the album…

You will not want to miss out on what is sure to be an amazing night 8 pm Friday-7 am Saturday, March 17-18 at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center, 425 Meyer Rd. in West Seneca. From a new service project, to volleyball, to team mascots, to devotions, to raising a boatload of money for Lutheran World Relief…it’s gonna be one awesome night! Find out more below…

About the Event

Create your team mascot before coming

You’ll want to be ready for this! Get your group or team together in the weeks leading up to Volleyball Marathon, get really creative, and make a mascot for your team! Mascots can have most any theme, as long as they uplift the values of either Organic Youth (growing, living, reaching & serving in God’s love), or they uplift the values of your church or any positive value you want to highlight. The more creative the better (remember, creative does not equal expensive!). There will be a mascot contest with an award for best mascot on the line!

NEW Service Project: Assembling school backpacks

We are teaming up with Lutheran World Relief this year to assemble school backpacks! There are too many children in developing countries that do not have even the most basic supplies to attend school with, leaving them behind in their education. So we are going to do something about that! We will be assembling school backpacks with the basics (notebooks, crayons, pens, pencils, etc.) that we will then bless and send to children around the world in need! Thanks to support from the St. John’s Lutheran Home for Children Board and Town Line Lutheran Youth, we are able to assemble over 150 backpacks!

All-Night Volleyball Marathon

Volleyball is super fun when you get a bunch of fun people together! We’re setting up a volleyball tournament that will consist of teams of church groups that are coming, and other “all-star” teams of individuals and friends that want to play together but may not be a part of a church. Play is 6 on 6, rotating players in and out on your team, and is going to be a great night of a little fun competition to determine the first, second, third and last place teams, plus other fun categories for awards!

Each team will also have an “ambassador” to play with you, cheer you on and walk with you through the service project. Ambassadors come from our Organic Youth Leadership Team.

Note to those that consider yourselves volleyball “pros”: this is a fun tourney only that welcomes all levels of skill (or lack thereof), so please keep this in mind and look at this as an opportunity to share your love of volleyball with others and teach those who want to learn the game better!

Devotions

Everyone gets to take part in a moving devotion time, planned and led by the very capable Organic Youth Leadership Team.

“Serving it Forward” Fundraiser…with PRIZES!!!

Each year at our Volleyball Marathon, we “Serve it Forward” and encourage individuals and teams to raise sponsorships and donations to go toward causes that are making a difference in our community and world.

This year, we are supporting Lutheran World Relief, which works to support sustainable agriculture, climate preservation, education, and emergency preparedness and response in developing countries around the world. So do all you can to raise sponsors and donations!

There are PRIZES for the top fundraisers!!!:

Youth Individual Prizes:

We have three $25 gift cards to favorite local eateries. The first place fundraiser gets their pick of the three gift cards, then the second place fundraiser gets the pick of the remaining two cards. The third place fundraiser gets the remaining card. No worries though, they are all great cards!

Group Prize:

Be the church group to raise the most funds for Lutheran World Relief, and you win an ICE CREAM SOCIAL delivered to a future group meeting and hosted by the Organic Youth Senior High Leadership Team!

We have a sponsorship collection form online to grab and print out to help raise money that will make a difference…see “How to go” below for the form!

Other tidbits

Cost for the event (See “How to go” for details) covers all program, drinks, pizza and some snacks. There is a snack bar at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center that will be open all night for those wishing to buy additional drinks and snacks.

How to go

To be a part of Volleyball Marathon, you need to:

Register online

Complete an Information and Release Form

Fundraise for “Serving it Forward”

Register Online:

Registration is how you sign up and pay for an event beforehand.

You can register yourself, your family, or even your whole youth group! We’ve got it all online to make it easy-peasy.

Complete an Information and Release Form:

By completing an Information and Release Form, you help us make Organic Youth programs as safe as possible.

You complete a form with contact info, emergency contacts, health concerns, and a covenant and release to sign.

Organic Youth uses it to make contact with people in case of an emergency, to contact you with other program opportunities, and to let you and your parents know what our expectations are of you to have as safe and positive of a time as possible.

Completing this form is a one-and-done process for the rest of the year! We keep Information and Release Forms on file and have them at all programs for you. If you already completed this form at another 2016-17 Organic Youth program, then no need to complete another this time!

NOTE: only current-year (2016-17) forms are valid. Older forms will not be accepted. Be sure to sign the bottom of the forms.

Download the form you need, make copies for others, fill them out and bring them with you to the next program or event!

Fundraise for “Serving it Forward”:

Help support Lutheran World Relief through our “Serving it Forward” fundraiser! You’ll help to ensure that this ministry continues to meet needs and make a difference for the least, lost and loneliest in our world.

Please collect as much as you can using this Donation Collection Form, and bring what money you raised with you to Volleyball Marathon.

You can get real fancy and print these two pages double-sided onto one sheet!

Please bring this form and any donations to Volleyball Marathon on March 17.

Volleyball Marathon flyer

Feel free use our Volleyball Marathon flyer to help spread the word about this event to the masses! Either print or post online! We’ve made .jpg picture files of the flyer so you can scale and insert them wherever you want! Make copies for the youth in your church, post it on the bulletin board, post it to social media…go nuts!
Two formats:1650×1275 px (for posting online)3300×2550 px (for printing up to full letter-size paper)
Please contact us if you have any questions!
]]>2144Buffalo Mission Trip recap: “The time is always right…”http://organic-youth.org/2017/01/31/2017-buffalo-mission-trip-recap/
Tue, 31 Jan 2017 20:31:13 +0000http://organic-youth.org/?p=2128Inspired by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his message that “the time is always right to do what is right”, a dedicated group of 10 senior high youth shared their weekend to serve those in need, and experience poverty, great community and more with the 2017 Buffalo Mission Trip urban immersion experience the weekend of January 13-15.

Friday evening we settled into Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, got to know each other and engaged in the beginning of our ongoing devotion and faith conversations.

Saturday began with getting to Hananiah Lutheran Church on Genesee St. We – rather than take the 5-minute drive – opted for public transportation. We rode the NFTA Metrorail further downtown, and then waited for our bus transfer…thus experiencing what the urban poor without their own vehicle endure daily to get around.

At Hananiah Lutheran we served by organizing their food pantry from top to bottom. We stocked shelves. We cleaned the whole church, which resides in an old storefront, that before the church began was a clandestine marijuana growing factory.

After taking public transportation back to Holy Trinity, we then took turns preparing and cleaning up not only for lunch, but other meals as well for the whole group, one big part of how we cared for each other during the weekend living in “intentional community” with each other.

We also did what’s known as the “Burrito Project”, which involves preparing burritos and then taking them to hand out to the homeless on the streets.

We walked to get the supplies we needed, and then after dinner we set about cooking and preparing the burritos for our journey the next day.

Sunday – our final day – started out with worship with the people of our weekend home at Holy Trinity.

That afternoon, we ventured downtown to deliver our burritos to the hungry and homeless. We left hats and scarves clipped to a clothesline for anyone in need to come and take. We stopped at “Homeless Jesus”, a statue of a homeless, covered figure on a park bench, found next to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We then meandered up Michigan Ave. Along the way, we passed out burritos, water, hats, gloves and other clothing to those in need. We even stopped at Harbor House (a homeless drop-in center) to give some food and clothing there.

Upon our return to Holy Trinity, our families with a hot potluck dinner awaited. The weekend wrapped up with one last devotion reflecting on our experiences. Our eyes were opened. Our hearts broken and simultaneously filled. We were humbled. Our community was tighter. And our challenge: don’t let this experience end. Keep in prayer about where God may be leading us to continue this fight for social justice for all.

We are thankful for those that supported our journey: parents and family, Holy Trinity which graciously welcomed us “home” for the weekend, for Hananiah and their ministry, Town Line Lutheran in Alden for collecting clothing for us to pass out, the Burrito Project and their ministry…and those we walked alongside, who showed us Jesus in unexpected ways!

Buffalo Mission Trip pictures

Rather than placing pictures directly on our page, we’ve started a Google Photos album for this trip. Check out the pics, feel free to download what you like, and if you have a Google ID (you do if you have a Gmail account), you can now add your Buffalo Mission Trip pictures to the collection! Click the button to go to the album…